VHS: Videos Hold Secrets
by Obsessivegeekybuffalosnowcones
Summary: After being abandoned, Edward goes to his best friend, Bella Swan. Together they uncover the mystery behind Carlisle's disappearance. Almost AH, AU Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight.
1. Solitary

**Author's note:** So, something else I came up with while watching Star Trek tapes. Actually, they play a big role in this story. You'll see. Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight or any characters from it.

**Chapter One: Solitary**

**Edward's POV**

The rain drizzled down soaking through my shoes and making my T-shirt cling to my chest as I trudged up the long, twisty driveway. I was almost to the door when the sky opened up and buckets of water landed on my head. I stepped into the front hall and tried to move my hair out of my eyes, but it was firmly plastered to my forehead. I dropped my backpack off my shoulder and used both of my hands to push my hair off my face. It stuck straight up, refusing to bend back any further. When I turn sixteen, I'm getting a car. There is no way I'm going to continue walking home in the dreadful weather presented by Forks.

Hi. My name is Edward Cullen. I'm fifteen and a sophomore at Forks High School. I have two loving parents, one of whom is a doctor. I'm really confident and outgoing. I'm the most popular guy in the school; I have so many friends. Girls fawn over me unashamedly. I can tell you anything having to do with sports. People want to be me. I'm also a phenomenal liar.

Hi. I'm Edward Cullen. My father disappeared when I was seven. When my mother realized he wasn't coming back, she quit pretending to like me. I'm shy, reserved, and considered a freak. People avoid me like spending too much time in my presence will cause them to catch some kind of disease. Geek isn't a disease nor is it contagious. I've never been kissed, much less had a girlfriend. I read. I play the piano. That makes me such a weirdo. I have one friend. I really don't mind being unpopular, but _two _friends would be nice. But I really am a phenomenal liar. You bought the first story, didn't you?

I wandered farther into the house. My plan was to slip past "Mom" before she figured out I was here. I walked into the living room and discovered it empty. The kitchen and her bedroom came up with similar results. The house had been drained of all signs of inhabitance except my room. My clothes were in a pile where my bed had previously been. There were two boxes on the floor. One of them held my substantial CD collection with a Post-it note on it saying, "You have bad taste in music." The other contained VHS tapes with another Post-it proclaiming, "I can't believe your father watched this show."

I sank to the floor in shock and disbelief. I knew she didn't like me, but to just leave while I'm at school. I couldn't wrap my head around it. I needed to talk to my best friend. I needed to see Bella. I made it back downstairs without conscious prompting from my brain. My path took me back through the kitchen where I found yet another sticky note that had eluded my initial cursory examination. This one read, "You have three days to leave before the new people move in." I would be homeless in three days.

I really needed to see Bella now. I ran up to my room and grabbed clothes to stuff in my backpack. I swung it over my shoulder as I returned to the downpour. The encroaching darkness told me it would be late by the time I reached Bella's. I had secretly spent the night in her room before, and I knew she wouldn't mind if I just showed up at her window. We had to do it that way because, despite being her best friend and nothing more for the past ten years, Chief Swan didn't trust any boys to spend the night with his daughter.

I smiled as I remembered when I had met Isabella. We were in kindergarten. She had stood there trying to convince herself to go ask to play with some of the other kids. Unfortunately, she had asked Lauren Mallory and Mike Newton. He rose to sneer at her that she wasn't cool enough to play with them. Then he hit her. I couldn't stomach watching him hurt her. So I took matters into my own hands and rearranged his face. He had a sizable black eye and a bloody nose before the teacher pulled me off him. To this day I am the only kindergartener to have gotten suspended from Forks Elementary. I became her protector, and she became my best friend.

Other than the scuffle with Newton and one later with Tyler Crowley, I didn't understand why she was friends with me. She was well liked and could easily be popular if she ditched me. She was pretty, smart, perfect. Even Mike had been shamelessly flirting with her since middle school. Still, she unfailingly defended me whenever something was said against me.

Bella's house came into view. I picked up my pace. Her bedroom window faced the front lawn and had a conveniently placed tree right in front of it. Over the years, I had perfected climbing said tree and could probably make it up in thirty seconds. Not to brag or anything. I grabbed onto the lowest branch and swung my legs up to wrap them around it. I righted myself and reached for the next branch above me. I repeated the process with the next two. Bella's window was opened a crack, as always. I reached out to push it open before I lunged into her room.

Bella didn't notice me landing next to her bed. She was sitting on the other side with her back to me, drying her hair off with a towel. I set my bag down silently, crawled up behind her, and whispered, "Hi," in her ear. She jumped nearly a foot off the bed. "How do you always manage to sneak up on me?" she inquired.

"Years of practice," I grinned at her. Despite everything, being near her always made me happy. I probably looked like a real idiot whenever I was in her presence, due to the cheesy smile that always made an appearance. My best friend's eyes were shining with a similar grin. "Great, now get off my bed; you're getting it wet."

Oh right. Rain, wet. I scrambled back onto the floor. She knew I'd bring dry clothes, so she turned away to let me change. I pulled the clothing out of my bag and changed quickly, leaving my old clothes on the floor to dry. Slightly less damp and donning shorts and an old T-shirt, I returned to my spot on her bed. "So, what brought on this sleepover?" she questioned me while lying down.

"Mom being stupid. You know, the usual," I dodged. "What are we going to do?"

"We could like totally do each others' hair and talk about boys," she squealed in a fake preppy voice. She waved her arms in rapid gesticulations to enhance her mockery.

"Geez Bella, we did that last time," I shot back.

"Okay, we can do each others' nails and spill all our deep inner secrets."

"You have no secrets from me."

She bit her lip. I was shocked. She _did _have a secret from me. "You've been keeping something from me," I accused.

She turned on her side and bit down on her lip harder. "You've been keeping something from me too! You've looked off since you got here."

"A compromise," I suggested, "I'll tell my secret if you tell yours."

"Don't get mad. He's been asking me out for so long, and I figured if I went on one date, he'd leave me alone-"

"Who?" I groaned. I was pretty sure I knew who it was. Only one person would make her that nervous to tell me.

"Mike Newton. He's taking me to a movie in Port Angeles Friday."

"He's going to try to kiss you."

"I've considered that possibility and come up with a solution. Remember that pepper spray my dad gave me…"

We both shook with silent laughter at the thought of Mike being on the receiving end of pepper spray. "What's your secret?"

I knew I couldn't keep this particular piece of information confidential for very long. It's just surreal to admit out loud. "My mom left me."

**A/N: **I know I should be working on my other stories, but I'm stuck on them and this came to me. It's actually the one I have the best planned out. I like this Edward, possibly more than my angel Edward. (Don't tell him that though.) Reviews are like roller skating in a buffalo herd, impossible not to love.


	2. VCR

**Author's note:** Thank you Bent05 and Debbie-lou, my awesome reviewers. No offense is meant to anyone, except my previous World History teacher. Lots of offense is meant there. I don't own Twilight, just FYI.

**Chapter Two: Vapor Can't Run **(And neither can you)

**Edward's POV**

"What?!" Bella shouted in disbelief. Her hatred for my mother was burning her face red.

"Quiet. You can't let your dad hear you." She kept the rest of her fury silent. I broke out into laughter and she gave me an incredulous look. "Sorry…It's just…you look so funny when you're trying to be angry," I said through bouts of laughter, "It's like…like…a kitten trying to be a tiger."

"Oh shut up," she whispered as she threw a pillow at me. Her face relaxed its resentment as she looked at me with sad eyes. "Look at the bright side, now you have that whole big house to yourself. No rules."

"She sold it."

"What?! How could she do this to you? How can you even be related to her? You're too nice to be related to her. When do you have to leave?"

"Sometime in the next three days."

"Where are you going to go?"

"I don't know." I hadn't thought about that yet. Where could I go?

"You could stay with me." She spoke so quietly I almost missed it. She wanted me to stay with her? I couldn't do that. Could I? So many questions, so few answers. "Seriously Edward, stay with me."

"Charlie…" I started.

"Doesn't have to know. He's not home during the day most of the time. You can stay up here or go out in the evening. Please, stay."

"Can't argue with that logic." I couldn't, but something felt off. Why would she want me to stay? Maybe I should actually ask her. "Why do you want me to stay?"

"You're my best friend, my protector. I care too much about you to abandon you."

I really wasn't sure I could deal with all the secrecy. I wanted to be here with her, really I did, but I don't think I could do that to her. "Let me sleep on it," I propositioned.

"Okay Edward. Good night." She reached over and turned off the lamp before curling up into my side. She says I make a good pillow. I don't get it. I move around more than she does when I sleep. I put one arm around her to hold her to me. Her breathing steadied to slow tempo against my neck, and her muscles relaxed further. Her soft snore combined with the thunderous one from the next room over.

I was so glad Charlie never saw the need to check on Bella during the night. He most definitely wouldn't like the way Bella was sleeping against me. Actually, he made it pretty clear that he wouldn't like my presence here at night at all. Anyways, my point: we always end up in more embarrassing positions than we go to sleep in. For example, and it will get worse than this, right now she has shifted so that her chest is pressed against my side. I don't really mind much. What self-respecting guy would? In fact, I can assure you that the entirety of the male population of Forks High, with one exception- Ben Cheney is too in love with Angela- would love to be in my position. Doesn't change the fact that she is my best friend. That's why it's awkward.

I spent the next two hours thinking over options. I had my head set on finding some other way, some other place. There had to be another way. I'd spent enough time burdening Bella with my presence. I have family in Chicago. Maybe I could try to find them. I was seriously considering that option, when Bella dug her head into my shoulder and started whimpering. I hummed to her, which, according to precedence, should have settled her. My external influence did nothing to calm her, instead causing her to flail her arms around in search of something to hold on to. Her hands found my head and used it for leverage to pull herself up, so that she was half way on top of me. This is one of those awkward positions I was talking about.

She was shaking in panic, muttering without making sense. She clung to me so tight it was almost painful. Her vocalizations turned into a stream of "NO!" until she finally ululated, "Don't leave me!"

That made my decision for me. It went against my nature to do anything that would make her that broken. Her subconscious obviously didn't know that though. I gently shook her awake. "Mmm…what?...How did I get on top of you again?"

"You pulled yourself on top of me in your sleep. I'm staying with you," I told her.

"That's great," she burbled sleepily. She rolled off of me and curled into her original position. She slept peacefully after that. I, on the other hand, didn't sleep a wink. Instead, I watched her. Which is completely not stalkerish. Her hair was fanned about her and, since it was still slightly damp, left a wet spot on her pillow. She named them, by the way, her pillows. If I'm not mistaken, she was sleeping on Colby and my head was on Luminara. She told me she gave it a girl's name so I wouldn't have to feel awkward about sleeping on a guy. Can't you see why I love her? Well, I don't _love_ her, not in a romantic way or anything, but I care for her so much it should be considered love.

Signs of movement sounded from the house as dawn rolled around. Half an hour later, I heard Chief Swan's cruiser pull out of the drive. Ten minutes after that, Bella's alarm went off. She stirred somewhat, then reached out and hit me in the head. "Snooze button's broken," she complained groggily.

"Maybe if you weren't searching for it on my face…"

"Oh. Oops, sorry."

She got out of bed unsteadily and hit a button on the actual alarm clock. The blaring beeps cut off as she walked over to her closet. I went to go shower. We were clean, dressed, and ready to go with twenty-five minutes to spare. So, Bella made pancakes. She is an exceptional cook. All of her food is delicious. "What are we doing today," I wondered as I drowned my pancakes in syrup.

"School. Duh. Oh! Did you hear the news?"

"Who exactly would I have heard it from?"

"Right. We're getting two new students today."

This excited me. If I could talk to them before Newton, I might get two more friends! Assuming they didn't hear the rumors from Jessica either. There are a lot of rumors about me, ranging from slept with Ms. Cope to tried to kill Eric Yorkie. You'd think people would have better things to do with their time.

We finished eating and headed off to school in Bella's truck. Everyone in our year will be able to drive at some point this year, except me. Because I'm a nerd and went to kindergarten when I was four. They make fun of me for it now, but who will be laughing when they're thirty, and I'm still twenty-nine?

Forks High was buzzing with excited voices, no doubt talking about the new kids. I ignored everyone, as per usual, and went straight to first period. I have World History with Mr. Bevertaugh. Almost every girl and one guy, Aden, has a crush on him. He's a thirty-year-old, trying to act twenty-three. Really, he has his hair in a ponytail. Today we were reviewing for a test, so he gave us a worksheet and let us study. I don't study, ever, so I pulled out the book I was reading instead. It's called _Skin_, another amazing novel by Ted DeKker. Mr. Bevertaugh turned on some music while saying, "Now this is good music." He likes to give us lectures on how we don't know what good music is at least twice a week.

I do know what good music is. Classical is good. And so are the Dixie Chicks, though even Bella doesn't know I secretly like them. "This is good music" is usually how he starts his rants. So I muttered under my breath, "Oh no! Not another rant on how all our music sucks." Then the room went deathly quiet. The music stopped and I could feel eyes burning into the side of my head. I looked up to see everyone staring at me. "Excuse me," he said, "Sucks?"

"That's not-" was all I got out before he spent the next three minutes yelling at me about how my music sucks. "That's not what I said," I finally screamed over him.

"What did you say then?"

"Oh no. Not another rant about how _our_ music sucks."

He gave me a stupid look and went back to his computer to play a Christian Heavy Metal song. You couldn't understand a thing they were screeching. Oh yeah, _I_ don't know good music. Pfft. Isn't that an opinion anyway? Beauty is in the ear of the beholder?

I continued up through lunch without seeing either of the new people. I heard a lot about them though. Apparently the guy is "a hunka hunka burning man" and "His biceps look yummier than a peanut butter covered pickle." Their words, not mine. I'd stayed in my last class longer, so I wouldn't have to get trampled in the lunch rush. I walked around a corner and ran right into a short girl. I didn't recognize her. She must be the new girl. She looked like an…elf? No, a fairy? Uhuh, a pixie. That's it; she's a pixie. Who happened to be walking with Jessica Stanley. "Watch were you're going, Nerdward. You ran into my friend," Jessica sneered.

"I'm sorry," I told new girl.

"It's okay," she chirped, "I'm Alice Brandon!"

"Edward Cullen."

"Alice, this is the Edward I told you about."

"I don't know what you were talking about. Ms. Cope is so not his type."

Jessica rolled her eyes, but left because she spotted Newton in the cafeteria. "Thanks for sticking up to your friend for me."

"Jessica's not really my friend. I just couldn't get her to shut up. Are all the girls here that shallow?"

"Most of them. I think you'd like my friend, Bella."

"I don't believe anything she said about you. Would you mind if my brother and I had lunch with you?"

"Sure! Come on."

I led her into the cafeteria and back to the table where Bella was seated with Rosalie and Jasper. The Hale twins weren't necessarily mean to me; they just didn't talk to me. I sat next to Bella, and Alice sat across from her. "Hi, I'm Alice. You must be Bella. I can tell we're going to be great friends!" Her eyes bugged out of her head. "Who is that?" she whispered, pointing.

"That's Rosalie."

"His name is Rosalie?"

"Oh, his name is Jasper. He's Rose's twin."

"Jasper," she sighed.

"Would you like me to introduce you?" Bella laughed. She nodded hazily. "Hey Jasper, this is Alice."

Jasper turned to look at her, and his eyes glazed over too. "Nice to meet you," he drawled, while pushing Rosalie out of her seat, so he could sit by her. The Hales had moved here from Texas five years ago, and he never quite lost his accent. They spent the rest of lunch staring at each other. It was weird.

Afterwards, I walked with Bella to the only class we had together, Biology. We sat down on those strange, uncomfortable stools at our lab table in the back. We learned about mitosis. Whew, cell reproduction. We passed notes rather than pay attention. I told her about World History. We took turns making fun of Mr. Bevertaugh. I walked her to Gym, afterwards before heading to Spanish.

There I met the "hunka hunka burning man" that had failed to show up to lunch. He was huge and muscly. He could probably rip me in half if he wanted to. Despite that, he seemed very friendly. "El pepino vuela a medianoche," he said in greeting.

"Why does the cucumber fly at midnight?" I asked.

"Hmn," he shrugged, "I'm Emmett."

All in all, a good day. I made two friends, go figure.

**A/N: **Whatcha think?The World History thing happened to me when we were reviewing for finals. Except my teacher made cracks about country music then said that he didn't insult our music. Pfft. Whatever. Stupid, egotistical teachers. I have a proposition for you. If you review and tell me your favorite Twilight character, I will force them to write a poem special for you. Is that incentive to review? Please do. For puppy dog-eyed Alice?


End file.
